Is Disney’s Chief Having a Cinderella Moment?LATE February at the world’s largest media conglomerate was a particularly challenging time for Robert A. Iger: problems were sprouting all around him.

On a Friday, staffers gave Mr. Iger, the chief executive of the Walt Disney Company, a 30-minute rundown of final plans for a new multimillion-dollar attraction at the Disneyland Resort. He hated it.

By Monday, a British theater chain had stepped up threats to boycott “Alice in Wonderland” over Mr. Iger’s decision to fast-track the film’s DVD release. And then, at about 1 a.m. on Wednesday, he got an e-mail message: “URGENT: Dancing Mickey.” A new electronic toy, a boogie-woogie Mickey Mouse, had encountered a hiccup, threatening its availability for Christmas.

In each case, Mr. Iger found a solution, sometimes cajoling his people to do more and sometimes intervening more directly. “I like our people to solve problems on their own, and they usually do,” he says later. “But I will do a deep dive if there is a lot at stake or if there are creative challenges.”

Deep is not a word that most people used to describe Mr. Iger when he took control of Disney five years ago. In fact, he was widely dismissed as little more than a stuffed suit who might have had the skills to fix a highly dysfunctional company but lacked creative sizzle or big-picture brilliance to raise its game. His predecessor Michael D. Eisner endorsed him, but faintly — at least according to “DisneyWar,” the 2005 book that chronicled Mr. Eisner’s fall from power.

The new take on Mr. Iger? Let us count the ways: One of the most aggressive dealmakers in media (the $7 billion purchase of Pixar, the animation studio, and the $4 billion acquisition of Marvel, the comic book publisher and movie studio); a risk-taker who isn’t afraid to make decisions that rankle Disney’s own troops (ripping apart the wiring for how the company does business in Europe); and a guy who, more than any of his big-media counterparts, is retooling antiquated industry practice, particularly when it comes to movie-making.

In short: blockbuster C.E.O.

“The spectrum of points of view this job requires is incredible, and Bob is great at it,” says Steven P. Jobs, Apple’s chief executive, who became Disney’s largest shareholder — and a board member — after the Pixar acquisition. He said that the quality of Disney’s products had improved, adding: “The amount of energy and passion at Disney has increased dramatically. The business lines were really in boxes before Bob empowered them.”

Mr. Iger, 58, has wasted little time enacting major changes at Disney. A reorganization of the company’s movie studio last fall brought the departure of over a dozen top managers — including the unit’s popular chairman, Dick Cook. Mr. Iger shocked Hollywood by installing a television executive as his replacement.

Shortly after that, when recession-battered retailers were still cutting back, Mr. Iger went the other way, unveiling an aggressive plan to overhaul the 340 Disney Stores at a cost of about $1 million each. A month later, Mr. Iger had his C.F.O. and the head of Disney’s $12 billion theme park division swap their jobs.

Mr. Iger also isn’t shy about playing hardball to guard Disney’s wallet. It was his call last month to yank ABC’s broadcast of the Academy Awards off of Cablevision to win retransmission payments.

Mr. Iger said in an interview last week that he didn’t feel a need to unload ABC, as some have suggested, but he was less definitive when a shareholder asked at Disney’s annual meeting last month. “There are no guarantees in terms of what will remain part of our company and what will not,” he answered.

As he continues juggling the dizzying number of corporate and financial balls that Disney has in the air at any given moment, Mr. Iger has won over a dedicated group of cheerleaders.

“He’s not constantly trying to show you how smart he is, and that is a very important trait in Hollywood, where you’ve got to rely on talent who consider themselves the center of the universe,” says Warren E. Buffett, the Berkshire Hathaway chairman, who has known Mr. Iger since helping to finance the Capital Cities takeover of ABC in the mid-1980s.

“Bob is the type of guy you want to help,” Mr. Buffett adds. “When he calls I don’t spend time thinking, ‘How do I tell this guy no?’ It’s, ‘How do I tell this guy yes?’ And I don’t feel that way about many people.”

Even Wall Street, that never-satisfied beast, seems newly pleased at Disney’s direction. Net income for Disney’s fiscal 2009 fell 25 percent, to $3.3 billion, as a result of the recession and problems at the movie studio.

But after several notable upgrades from analysts and a nascent recovery at the studio — “Alice in Wonderland” has earned about $675 million at the global box office — Disney’s stock price has perked up in recent weeks. It now trades at $36.22, an 81 percent increase from a year earlier.

“Bob has done the opposite of muddling through,” says Mr. Eisner. “He has managed the company aggressively and been steady in a very stormy time.”

But Mr. Eisner does have some advice: As Mr. Iger continues to mature, he must never “allow arrogance to overpower him like it does many C.E.O.’s.”

Words of wisdom, but easier said than done.

MR. IGER, of course, hasn’t had a perfect reign, and Disney faces some particularly tough challenges ahead.Some senior executives at the company contend that their precise and deliberate chief waited far too long to put changes into effect at the movie studio, which had hewed to old-fashioned marketing strategies and suffered a string of flops like “Surrogates” and “Confessions of a Shopaholic.”

Disney has big video-game ambitions, spending at least $180 million developing the segment last year alone. But Mr. Iger has at times appeared indecisive about the company’s approach.

The consumer products division argued that it should run video games; the Internet division, already managing online role-playing worlds like Club Penguin (which Mr. Iger bought for about $700 million in 2007), felt that gaming was its turf. First, Mr. Iger ruled in favor of consumer products. Then he reversed his decision, ultimately moving video games to the Internet group.

The Internet group, meanwhile, is emerging as a trouble spot, analysts say. Competitors crow that some recent efforts — like a “Pirates of the Caribbean” online world — have been failures.

So when it comes to online innovation, is Disney really moving fast enough? Mr. Jobs sidesteps that question. “Bob is the most aggressive in his industry,” he says. “Consumer behavior is changing, and Bob gets that more than anybody else.” But is Disney moving fast enough on the Web? “That’s not my place to say,” Mr. Jobs demurs.

The Marvel acquisition has posed its own challenges. Betting that the brooding Marvel characters would deepen its hold on boys — long an area of weakness for Disney — Mr. Iger paid about $50 a share for the company, a 29 percent premium. Some analysts were notably cool to the news. “Over the long run, we suspect this will be viewed as Mr. Iger’s first major mistake as C.E.O.,” wrote a Citigroup analyst, Jason Bazinet, at the time of the acquisition.

Since then, there has been friction between Isaac Perlmutter, the Marvel chief executive who is staying on, and Disney’s consumer products division over how best to integrate two very different approaches.

Hollywood, familiar with Mr. Perlmutter’s penchant for ruling his roost, has started to whisper: Will he turn into Mr. Iger’s version of Harvey Weinstein, the hard-charging Miramax co-founder who caused Mr. Eisner so many headaches after Disney acquired the little studio? Mr. Perlmutter declined to be interviewed.

Disney is a huge company, with more than 140,000 employees spread over businesses as disparate as ESPN and time-share condos. All of this brings the company $36 billion in annual revenue and a market capitalization of about $70 billion. So new headaches are a daily event.

Mr. Iger constantly has to contend with the big-picture questions, like how people will consume media in the future and how a mature, enormous company grows. But it’s the middle-tier stuff that can become time-consuming.

ABC, for instance, has fallen to fourth place among the Big Four broadcast networks (third place, in front of NBC, if you exclude sports). Disney’s animation studio is still struggling despite improvements made by the Pixar brain trust. And its Winnie the Pooh character, which delivers $5 billion annually in retail sales, is showing some wear and tear, and efforts to return the character to prominence, notably a Disney Channel show, have failed.

Disney and Mr. Iger dispute much of this criticism, particularly when it comes to Marvel. “Ike’s been great,” Mr. Iger says of Mr. Perlmutter. “The integration has gone well, and the potential has exceeded my expectations.” In terms of video games, Mr. Iger said he had concluded that gaming of all kinds should be managed in a cohesive way by the Internet group, adding that the company’s approach to the business continues to evolve.

But he also says there is another crucial issue on his fix-it list.

“We get credit for being innovative, at least in our space, but I think we can be even better,” he says over breakfast at the Lanesborough hotel in London. He complains that in-house lawyers can at times be overly aggressive, that instead of simply advising business units, they are too often making decisions.

“The baggage of tradition,” he says of Disney’s culture, “can slow you down.”

“I’m not going to eliminate that,” he added, “but I’d like to reduce it significantly.”

MR. IGER started his media career in 1972 as the host of “Campus Probe,” an Ithaca College television show. He dreamed of becoming a news anchor but got a job as a weatherman instead. Realizing that he wasn’t very good at it, he took a production job in 1974 at ABC, where he says his first boss informed him that he was “unpromotable.”

He quickly found another job inside the network and sped up the ranks. In 1985, when he was vice president of sports programming, Capital Cities Communications bought ABC — a takeover that ended up shaping his business philosophy. The new owners took a relaxed approach, preserving ABC’s culture and approaching integration with respect and patience.The positive lessons from that experience — and some from Disney’s own eventual acquisition of Capital Cities-ABC — helped Mr. Iger woo the Pixar camp, rebuilding a relationship damaged by repeated clashes between Mr. Eisner and the animation studio.

Corporate courtship, it turns out, is one of Mr. Iger’s specialties. He used the same skills to win over Mr. Perlmutter in striking the Marvel deal. (For a long time, Disney couldn’t even get a meeting with Marvel.)

And, last year, Mr. Iger played a star role in luring Steven Spielberg to the Magic Kingdom. Mr. Spielberg’s company, DreamWorks Studios, will release its films through Disney starting early next year.

Mr. Iger, who is married to the television journalist Willow Bay, dislikes pomp and circumstance. Often waking at 4:30 a.m., he drives himself to work and coaches his son’s basketball games on weekends.

He has always exhibited a casual charm. When he graduated from high school in Oceanside, N.Y., he was voted both “most enthusiastic” and “friendliest.” Told that he had to pick one, he went with the first. (A more recent claim to fame: WowOWow.com, a site created and run by Whoopi Goldberg and 15 friends, chose him as one of the 10 sexiest businessmen over 50.)

Stacey Snider, the chief executive of DreamWorks and a partner in it with Mr. Spielberg, says Mr. Iger’s likability had little to do with her boutique studio’s decision to align itself with Disney. Ms. Snider says that what really mattered was Mr. Iger’s enthusiastic embrace of the changes washing across the film industry: pushing for shifts in how DVDs are released, recalibrating marketing spending from old media to new, building movies around brands and franchises.

“In a very competitive landscape, you need to be with the sharpest, most forward-thinking, most risk-taking people you can,” says Ms. Snider. “Bob’s approach is, ‘How do we make the 22nd-century version of a media company?’ ”

Quite a few people in Hollywood think that Mr. Iger’s all-or-nothing approach at Walt Disney Studios may be too much too quickly. But Ms. Snider disagrees. “This is a legacy business,” she says with a sigh, “and whenever someone challenges that legacy, you have pushback.”

About a decade ago, when Mr. Iger directly oversaw international operations, he was charged with increasing per capita spending on Disney products, whether movies or bed sheets, in various countries in Latin America. He decided, essentially, to make the region autonomous. Decisions about how best to market Mickey to Argentina or what Disney Channel programs made sense in Brazil would no longer come only from headquarters in Burbank, Calif.

The experiment was a huge success, but Mr. Iger worried that replicating the structure elsewhere — namely, in a giant market like Europe — would be too radical. Until last spring.

Disney, preoccupied with emerging markets, had come to view Europe as a mature part of its business. But Mr. Iger, who has made international growth a priority, decided that adopting a more nimble operating structure in the region could unlock more value. He drastically reorganized European operations, using Latin America as a blueprint.

Some senior executives in Burbank, digesting the news that they had just lost oversight of an enormous portion of their portfolio, were miffed. Mr. Iger acknowledges some internal unrest but says it has dissipated. “I do think it’s working,” he says. “I sense a big change in the speed of decision making and the strategic focus.

“Burbank has gone from support, interest and curiosity to dread, fear and ‘oh my goodness’ to now, I think, acceptance,” he adds.

In late February, Mr. Iger flew to London for a progress report. In one 90-minute meeting at Disney’s sleek Hammersmith office tower in London, Mr. Iger — in shirt sleeves, his hands folded behind his head — listened intently. The presentations focused on Disney Channel plans in various European countries and how specific markets were weaving Facebook into their marketing strategies.

Of the 35 managers at the meeting, about half had been given new titles and responsibilities within the last few months.

Mr. Iger peppered his team with questions about Italy, a country that marked Disney’s arrival in Europe in the 1930s with a children’s magazine, Topolino, that featured Mickey Mouse. He wanted to know why the No. 1 program on Italy’s Disney Channel wasn’t a franchise like “Hannah Montana” but a program he had never heard about before — “Il Mondo di Patty,” a telenovela-style program for children about an Argentine girl. Local programmers had decided to give this inexpensive show a shot — and they hit pay dirt.

Most children’s shows are 30 minutes, run weekly and have single-episode storylines. Telenovelas are daily soap operas with evolving plots. Mr. Iger was intrigued by the format, and an animated conversation ensued about what other markets — including the United States — might be ripe for such a series.

“It’s important that Disney’s products are presented in ways that are culturally relevant,” Mr. Iger says, happy that the Italian Disney Channel was experimenting with different genres. He asked an assistant to send a DVD of the series to his office.

Next up was a report about a new ad-buying system, called Disney Media Plus, that was successful in Latin America and was moving to Europe. Essentially, the system allows advertisers to tailor their marketing to demographics — say, teenage girls in France — across multiple Disney businesses.

“It should work pretty well,” says the person making the presentation.

“It should?” Mr. Iger asks with grin.

“It will,” the manager responds.

THE next morning, Mr. Iger is relaxed — or as relaxed as a perpetual motion machine ever is. And the three problems that engulfed him over the last few days had been solved.

That Disneyland attraction, a high-tech water show set to music called World of Color (think the Bellagio fountains in Las Vegas on steroids), was being reworked. He felt that the attraction over all was outstanding, but he worried that the music was all wrong. So he had written notes about each song on how to make the show more modern.

“Ninety-five percent of the decisions made at the company are made by other people,” he says. “But this is a big show, and I felt opportunities were being lost.”

The standoff with Odeon Cinemas, the theater chain threatening to boycott “Alice in Wonderland,” was over; Mr. Iger had paid a personal visit to Odeon’s chief executive to explain Disney’s position on the DVD release.

Even Dancing Mickey had become a distant worry; the manufacturing difficulty had proved to be a false alarm.

So Mr. Iger takes a rare morning off. He goes to a small museum housing Winston Churchill’s bomb-proof, World War II bunker, and receives a private tour from Churchill’s granddaughter. He touches the maps hanging on the walls and sits in Churchill’s chair.

This is a treat: Churchill is one of Mr. Iger’s heroes. When Mr. Iger was 12, a family friend carved a wooden figurine of the prime minister for him, and it still sits prominently on his desk.

“Churchill balanced heritage and innovation,” Mr. Iger says later, at the black-tie premiere of “Alice in Wonderland.” “There are big lessons in that for Disney. Our brand is so powerful because of our heritage. But you’ve got to innovate, and not just in terms of what is new today but what will be new far into the future.”

BURBANK, Calif. – April 21, 2010 – Rich Ross, chairman of The Walt Disney Studios announced today that MT Carney has been named President of Marketing for The Walt Disney Studios. Carney will oversee all aspects of worldwide marketing and distribution, including all creative, media, online development, publicity, promotions and synergy for motion pictures released under the Walt Disney Pictures (including Walt Disney Animation and Pixar Animation) and Touchstone Pictures banners.

“MT represents a unique type of marketing executive – she has built global teams, can market a product across multiple platforms and has firsthand knowledge of new media and its effectiveness in reaching consumers,” said Ross. “Just as we have looked at ways to restructure how we create and distribute our movies, we also needed to hire someone like MT, who can lead our incredibly creative global marketing teams and ensure that our films reach audiences around the world.”

I've just confirmed the name with Disney. Drumroll, please: it's MT Carney, the Scottish-born co-founder and owner of Naked Communications, a NYC-based media planning and strategy that specializes in viewing the new marketing landscape from a global perspective, and former Ogilvy worldwide planning director from 2003-2006. Clients at her Naked company (whose motto is "The Agency Model Stripped Naked") included Coca-Cola, Nokia, and NBC. Her appointment follows an exhaustive 5-months-long search and was going to be announced Thursday when Disney Studios boss Rich Ross has scheduled a dog-and-pony show for the press for him and perhaps his No. 2 Sean Bailey to discuss Disney's movie plans under the new regime. (Even though it has not greenlighted a movie yet.) But back to Carney, who according to the latest plans won't appear at Thursday's presentation to the media.

Much has been made of the fact that Ross wanted to hire a marketing boss outside of the movie business. That caused a ton of grumbling within Hollywood where movie marketing has always been seen as a specialized skill set carried out by an elite clique of veterans. Many marketers called me to complain Ross is arrogant on the subject. But one of my Disney sources insists that "Rich looked both inside and outside the biz, and spoke to movie marketing and non-movie marketing people."

What Ross wanted was "somebody who could handle the strategy of releasing films as well as home entertainment in order to ensure very strong marketing throughout the life of the product."

I've learned Ross and his headhunter, the NY- and LA-based executive search firm ML Search, spoke to inside Hollywood candidates, but many were already under contract, as well as outsiders at companies including Microsoft and Burger King. (Hmm, years ago, Disney hired Burger King guy John Cywinski, and Warners hired Brad Ball from MacDonalds. Both didn't last.) Finally, Ross whittled down the candidates to a group of finalists who went before a "committee" (more like a gauntlet) of Disney executives and creatives like DreamWorks CEO Stacey Snider and Disney mega-producer Jerry Bruckheimer and Sean Bailey, the newly named head of production at the Disney movie studios. (Marvel's Kevin Feig and Pixar's Jon Lasseter were not part of the panel, though Jon had input as he does in most everything.)

Carney stood out because "she was someone who Rich felt understood strategy and creative," a source tells me. "Also, she's Scottish and worked in the UK and U.S., so she understood the global marketplace as well as domestic."

Carney is known for giving provocative speeches and pitches with the theme that "it’s time to re-think how products, services and brands are connected to their consumers". Her view is that many traditional ad agencies are unable to adapt with the changing landscape of marketing and communications. One account I read said her firm, Naked, has "positioned itself as a pure (or nearly pure) strategy group, not touching the creative or media (in most cases.) Naked works both directly with clients and as an adjunct to some well known agencies to fill those gaps particular to specific brands, audiences and situations."

Her phraseology includes "Mapping The Customer Journey", "Four-Dimensional Storytelling", and "Fleet Of Foot, Pure Of Heart". She is described in the ad press as "bright and personable", also "tremendously insightful", with a heavy Scottish accent.

Her job at Disney primarily will consist of "balancing multiple clients" who put movies into the Disney pipeline -- Pixar, Bruckheimer, DreamWorks (not until 2011), and Marvel (in 2012). Ross feels he already inherited a strong marketing team -- after all, 3D Alice In Wonderland is closing in on $1 billion worldwide grosses -- so didn't need that kind of redundancy in Carney. "She's smart and thinks broadly," a source tells me. "She also loves movies."

Disney has taken the unusual step of hiring veteran consultant Valerie Van Galder to handle the marketing of the fourth movie in its flagship film franchise, "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides."Considering its importance, the move is likely to be perceived in the industry, fairly or not, as a sign that Disney lacks full confidence in marketing chief M.T. Carney, a newcomer to the movie business. Disney has had a tough summer with live-action films, with two of its disappointments -- "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" and "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" -- produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. "She came to the party late," Bruckheimer told THR. "I had two movies that got caught between two regimes, and the movies suffered."Asked for comment, Disney issued a statement from Carney: "Val was one of the first people I met when I arrived, and in subsequent conversations, I've been impressed with her business savvy and diverse background. I'm thrilled she accepted my invitation to lend her talents on this important franchise. I'm committed to working with her and other innovative professionals as we continue to build out our world-class marketing organization."The studio declined further comment.

The first two "Pirates" sequels were global blockbusters: 2006's "Dead Man's Chest" made $1.06 billion worldwide, and 2007's "At World's End" made $960 million. "Tides," which opens in May, is expected to do a billion with a marketing spend of north of $60 million. Bruckheimer wanted an experienced hand to market his next film, and experience is in short supply in Disney's marketing department. "I think it's a smart move on Disney's part," he said of hiring Van Galder. "She's a seasoned veteran, and she's very smart."However, Bruckheimer has told associates that hiring Van Galder was Disney's idea.After Disney CEO Robert Iger pushed out longtime studio chief Dick Cook a year ago, he replaced him with Rich Ross, a cable executive with no film experience, and Ross hired Carney to run marketing. Carney was a partner in Naked Communications and also had no film experience. Meanwhile, the studio purged many seasoned staffers.Some sources close to the studio expressed sympathy about Carney's predicament. "You're throwing her into an impossible situation," a former Disney executive said. "She not only doesn't know the job but doesn't know the jobs of the people below her. And worst of all, [Ross] gutted the place. ... She's been given an opportunity that is like 100 pounds of manure in a bag, and she's being told, 'You can do it because you know media.'

Another source with close ties to the studio echoed that idea and said that hiring Van Galder wasn't necessarily a slap at Carney. "I think it was, 'You don't have a team that's deep enough,' " the source said. "She understands that. She's not the one who undid the department."Some observers have been especially critical of the marketing for "Sorcerer's Apprentice," which opened to $17.6 million in July. A source involved with the project said it was clear weeks before the film's bow that it was in trouble. "You need a lot of experience to start off on the right foot and to be quick on your feet and change when things aren't going right," the insider said. "The studio doesn't have either of those things." Bruckheimer held back from laying the blame directly on Carney. "These campaigns are done eight months, a year in advance," he said. "It's hard to point the finger other than the fact that they lost the head of marketing and the head of the studio." Sources were especially critical of Carney's role in crafting the tagline for "Sorcerer's Apprentice": "It's the coolest job ever.""She was responsible for one of the hall-of-fame worst taglines ever for 'Sorcerer's Apprentice,' " the former Disney executive said. "She not only wrote it but insisted that it be in every piece of material. I've never seen a movie sell because it's about a job."A source close to the production says director Jon Turteltaub argued to no avail that the tagline was the equivalent of selling a Harry Potter film by saying, "Harry Potter goes to the coolest school ever." "No one wants to see a movie about a cool school, and no one wants to see a movie about a cool job -- especially if you're 11," the source said.Turteltaub said he doesn't blame the tagline or any particular marketing decision for the movie's performance. "They've owned up to anything that they know didn't go well," he told THR about the Disney marketing department. "It's a learning process on every movie. Who's to say whether it would have performed differently with a different marketing campaign? In hindsight, everybody gets very clever."Carney did not try to pretend that the campaign was a success: After the movie opened, she sent Turteltaub an e-mail suggesting that he probably had a Scottish doll that he was sticking with pins (Carney is from Scotland). "Sorcerer's Apprentice," which cost at least $160 million to produce, has generated about $175 million globally to date.Another exec with ties to Disney said the jury isn't in yet on Carney. "So far, she is bright and not political," the observer said. The tagline on "Sorcerer's Apprentice" "may not have helped the movie, but it wasn't its death knell."Bruckheimer was circumspect. "You never know," he said. "You don't know if it's the tagline. ... It's a delicate thing, how you release a film."

Steve Wadsworth, president of the Disney Interactive Media Group, resigned from his post on Thursday. DIMG generally over sees Disney.com and Disney’s Online Games. The division recently reported a lost of $65 million. But it’s hard to know exactly what that means with Disney’s unique in-house accounting methods.

Apparently John Pleasants, President of the recently acquired company Playdom, is a leading candidate to replace Wadsworth. Playdom is a social gaming platform. One of their games, Social City, just rolled out some Disney theme park icons as part of the game. (It’s addictive, trust me.)

Trouble in this division is the last thing Bob Iger needs. He’s placed a lot of the company’s eggs in the internet basket. Unfortunately, the eggs cracked to omelettes made ratio is looking really poor right now. Leadership from someone with a firm understanding of how social media fits into the fabric of the company’s projects would be a good thing.

As expected Disney CEO Bob Iger named John Pleasants to the post of president of the Disney Interactive Media Group. A bit of a surprise, Iger also named James Pitaro Co-president. Pleasants joined Disney when his company Playdom was acquired a few months ago. Pitaro joins Disney from Yahoo! Inc. where he was Vice President and Head of Media. (This is where I make some snarky joke about Yahoo! Inc.) This move effectively splits the unit where it is hoped focus can grow the division.

“Our rapidly growing Disney digital businesses will benefit greatly from the deep experience and distinct leadership skills shown by John and Jimmy,” Iger said. “John has shown incredible agility and skill in helping companies achieve success in the ever-shifting digital games business, while Jimmy has vast knowledge of the online world and has been hugely successful at creating and building audiences around branded online content.”

“Both have outstanding track records in anticipating trends and delivering to consumers creative, innovative and successful experiences and products,” Iger added. “As Co-Presidents, I’m confident they will make Disney’s digital content and businesses even more robust and successful.”

Steve Jobs is expected to remain on the board of the Walt Disney Co. (DIS) despite the health issues that prompted him to take a medical leave as chief executive of Apple Inc. (AAPL), according to a person familiar with the matter.

Jobs, who is also retaining his board seat at Apple, became by far the largest shareholder in Disney when the media giant acquired Pixar Animation Studios in 2006. As a result of that deal, he owns about 7% of Disney and is a director at the company.

Jobs's role at one of the world's largest media and entertainment conglomerates has prompted speculation and intrigue as the rise of digital communications has provided an opening for Apple and other tech heavyweights to infiltrate businesses like music and television, challenging traditional media titans like Disney.

Some have attributed Disney's early willingness to embrace certain digital distribution platforms to the influence of Jobs.

Jobs's latest departure from Apple due to health issues marks the third time in the past decade he has been forced to step back from his role at Apple. He took a leave in 2004 when he had surgery to remove a tumor in his pancreas and then again in the first half of 2009 for the liver transplant.

BURBANK, Calif. – January 31, 2011 – Chuck Viane, president of Global Distribution for Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, announced today that he will retire in July after 25 years with The Walt Disney Company.

“Chuck is one of the most knowledgeable and savvy individuals in the film industry,” said Rich Ross, chairman of The Walt Disney Studios. “Throughout his distinguished career at Disney, he has proven himself to be a rare legend, deeply respected by those who have had the privilege to work with him here as well as by exhibitors and colleagues around the world.”

Coming from the exhibition arm of the industry, Viane joined Disney in 1985 and has helped shepherd the Studio’s distribution operation through rapidly changing technological and economic times, including significant international expansion. As a result, the Studio’s distribution arm reached the domestic billion-dollar plateau 13 times during his tenure, setting the stage for the Studio in 2010 to become the first to have two billion-dollar earners in the same year, with Alice in Wonderland and Toy Story 3.

“Being on the front lines at Disney over such an exciting period in the film industry has been an extraordinary experience. I’ve worked on the best projects, I’ve worked with the best people and I’m proud of the things we’ve accomplished together,” said Viane. “Now I’m looking forward to watching my grandkids grow – and maybe getting to sleep in on Sunday mornings.”

The Studio is pleased to announce that Dave Hollis has been promoted to executive vice president, Theatrical Exhibition Sales and Distribution. He will work closely with Viane over the next five months to transition oversight of the theatrical distribution function. Viane will stay on as a consultant through the middle of next year and a replacement for Hollis will be named at a later date.

“I’ve had the pleasure of watching Dave’s career thrive here at Disney and I know I am leaving the team in very capable hands,” added Viane.

A 10-year Disney veteran, Hollis was most recently senior vice president of Distribution for Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International, where he was responsible for the sales and distribution operation across 70 countries, for all motion pictures released under the Walt Disney Pictures, Disneynature, Marvel and Touchstone Pictures banners. In his new role, Dave will assume responsibility for global sales and distribution of The Walt Disney Studios motion pictures, including North America and international markets. He will report directly to Bob Chapek, president of Distribution for TWDS.

BURBANK, Calif. – The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) Board of Directors announced today it has agreed to extend Robert A. Iger’s contract through June 2016 as part of the Company’s ongoing succession planning. Under the new agreement, effective Oct. 1, Iger will assume the role of chairman in addition to chief executive officer following Chairman John E. Pepper’s retirement from the board at Disney’s 2012 annual shareholder meeting in March. Until then, Iger will remain president and chief executive officer.

Iger will hold the positions of chairman and chief executive officer through March 31, 2015, at which time a new CEO would be named; Iger will thereafter serve as executive chairman for 15 months through June 30, 2016. Iger’s current contract was set to expire on Jan. 31, 2013.

The Disney board took action at this time to secure the benefit of Iger’s leadership through 2016, provide for an effective, seamless succession and management transition and a continuity of the company’s corporate strategy to create long-term value for shareholders.

As provided in the company’s corporate governance guidelines, the board will also select an independent lead director when Iger assumes the role of Chair immediately following the meeting in March.“As one of the most iconic brands and preeminent companies in the world, The Walt Disney Company requires a leader with the proven ability to drive creative and financial success in a dynamic world. For more than six years, Bob Iger has proven he has that ability at the highest level,” said Mr. Pepper. “The Board is delighted that the company has been able to secure the longer-term continuation of Bob’s unique blend of experience and leadership skills. His ability to bring together the many parts of Disney’s business against a clear and proven strategy, while instilling a culture of innovation, collaboration and discipline, will continue to serve the long-term interests of shareholders.”

Pepper added: “It is for these reasons – continuing the strategic direction and growth of the company while ensuring a smooth transition process to the next generation of leadership – the Board has determined that Bob should assume the additional role of Chairman.”

Iger said: “No CEO could have a better counselor than John — his impeccable integrity, vast experience, and knowledge and appreciation of Disney have been invaluable. I want to thank him for his many contributions, and his support of our people and our strategy including two of the company’s most significant acquisitions in recent years – Pixar and Marvel.”

“I’m privileged and grateful to lead The Walt Disney Company and our talented, dedicated team at this exciting time,” Iger added. “I’m committed to increasing long-term value for shareholders and am confident we will continue to do so through the successful execution of our core strategic priorities: the creation of high quality, branded content and experiences, the use of technology, and creating growth in numerous and exciting international markets.”

Since being named president and chief executive on September 30th, 2005, Iger, 60, has led the Company to record operating results while positioning Disney for the future in the global, dynamic multi-media industry. Disney’s total shareholder return since October 1, 2005 is five times higher than that of the S&P 500.

During Iger’s leadership tenure, The Walt Disney Company has been recognized as one of “America’s Most Admired Companies” by Fortune magazine (2009, 2010, 2011); one of the “World’s Most Respected Companies” by Barron’s (2009, 2010); and one of the “Best Places to Launch a Career” by BusinessWeek magazine (2006-2010).

As part of the agreement, Iger’s annual base salary will be $2.5 million. Iger is not receiving any up front equity award in connection with signing the new agreement. His annual bonus award will be calculated based on the Company’s performance, including its operating income, return on invested capital, earnings per share and after-tax free cash flow. He will also be entitled to an annual long-term equity incentive award of options and restricted stock units, the ultimate value of which will be entirely dependent on the Company’s future financial performance.

For five years prior to his death, Steve Jobs served as Pixar's voice on the Walt Disney Company board of directors and provided valuable insight (must read) in other areas as well. Who succeeds him will have significant implications for both Disney and Pixar.

The Shares

The ownership of Jobs' 138 million Disney shares (worth $4.4 billion) will be determined by the contents of his will, which is likely to remain private through a trust arrangement.

If Jobs opted to leave his estate mostly to his wife, Laurene Powell Jobs, she would become the company's single largest individual shareholder.

Would Powell Jobs be interested in succeeding her late husband?

Laurene Powell Jobs

A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the Stanford Graduate School of Business, Powell Jobs has served on the boards of several non-profits, including College Track, which she co-founded and currently chairs.

When U.S. President Barack Obama established the White House Council for Community Solutions last December, he appointed Powell Jobs as a Council Member.

She also has a strong business résumé, having worked for years as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs and co-founding a natural foods company in Northern California.

Her input could help further Disney's charitable endeavours.

Ed Catmull

Another possibility is that Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios president Ed Catmull would be nominated to serve as an inside director.

He has more experience than just about anyone in the animation business, to say nothing of his close working relationship with chief creative officer John Lasseter.

"I doubt anyone would blink an eye if Ed were chosen for the seat," says Pixar Touch author David A. Price.

The Decision

Following all required consultations, a recommendation will be made by the board's Governance and Nominating Committee. It then goes to the remaining directors for a vote.

The board met on Friday for the first time since Jobs' death. It was subsequently announced that John E. Pepper, Jr., 73, intends to retire next year. (CEO Bob Iger will replace him as chairman.) That leaves an additional seat to be filled.

Bob Iger Joins Apple’s Board of DirectorsToday, Apple named a new Chairman of the Board. Arthur D. Levinson will take over as Chairman, having served on the board since 2005.

In Disney-related news, Bob Iger (President and CEO of The Walt Disney Company) was also named today as a new member of Apple’s Board of Directors. This furthers the relationship between Disney and Apple. (Steve Jobs was the largest Disney shareholder and a member of Disney’s board until his passing. Iger was instrumental in the negotiations for Disney to buy Pixar from Jobs in 2006.) Iger joins the ranks of Al Gore, Tim Cook, and other noteworthy figures in one of the most powerful boards.

Iger is also a member of the board of directors for the National September 11 Memorial & Museum and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc. He is also a member of Barack Obama’s President’s Export Council. (And remember, Iger has announced that he will step down as Disney’s CEO in 2015.)

EXCLUSIVE: MT Carney Out As President Of Worldwide Marketing At Walt Disney Studios

BREAKING NEWS… EXCLUSIVE… refresh for latest: After more than a year and half in the job, and speculation since her arrival that she was going to be canned, I can confirm that MT Carney is officially out as President of Worldwide Marketing at Walt Disney Studios. Don’t expect an announcement until this week. Disney is locked down right now about Carney’s status. Of course my sources are claiming it has nothing to do with a very negative story about Carney in tomorrow’s New York Times – headlined “A Disney Marketer’s Downfall”. The 42-year-old Carney was handplucked by studio chief Rich Ross despite her having no movie biz experience. (Instead she had experienced in promoting packaged goods. “But a movie is not like a Honda,” one marketing guru reminds me just now.) You can argue that the knives were out from Day One by Hollywood’s incestuous marketing community that doesn’t want outsiders to succeed on their turf. You can argue that Carney did in herself with moronic pronouncements, an unwillingness to learn, and an eagerness to outsource. (Which is why she quickly earned the nickname ‘Empty Carney’.) The timing of Carney’s exit, though long speculated about, was kept so secret that my news caught Disney staff by surprise.

One veteran movie marketer tells me about Carney’s exit that the problem was more about what Carney didn’t do than what she did. “She didnt do anything. She farmed out Pirates Of The Caribbean 4. Stacey and Steven have their own separate Disney marketing team for DreamWorks. There’s a separate team for Disney’s animation group. And then Paramount did the last two Marvel movies.” Carney’s exit comes at a time when Disney will start marketing future Marvel films, Pixar has major releases on the horizon like Brave, DreamWorks is filling the pipeline, and Rich Ross’s studio has some very big-budget bets ahead like John Carter. One source tells me it was Carney’s idea to drop the “Of Mars” from the title of John Carter. “It’s based on a big geek book. You are taking a piece of very well known classic source material and taking the marketing hook out of it. It’s like putting it through the deflavorizer. It’s like a perfect microcosm of what went wrong.”

The Scottish-born co-founder and owner of Naked Communications, a NYC-based media planning and strategy firm, was also a former Ogilvy worldwide planning director from 2003-2006. Her appointment followed an exhaustive 5-months-long search. (See my previous, Disney Picks Movie Marketing Chief (Her Motto? “The Agency Model Stripped Naked”) My sources claim that Carney told Disney over the summer she wanted to leave the job and go back to NYC where her young kids have remained and where she has flown every Friday from LA. Now she’ll return to the NYC marketing agency world she left. But the fact is that Disney began looking for her replacement some time ago.

I want to share with you that MT Carney has made the decision to leave the company and return to New York to be with her children. Under her leadership, our marketing organization has put together some of the most wide-reaching campaigns we have ever launched. I am incredibly grateful and thank MT for all of her insight and expertise, but I fully respect her decision and wish her all the best.We have, in my opinion, the best marketing team in the business and the work I’ve seen over the past two years has been nothing short of extraordinary.I realize there is much work at hand on our upcoming projects and I appreciate your dedication as always.

After much consideration, I have decided to leave the Disney family to return to my own. It is terribly hard to leave, but I have been constantly torn between my kids and my job, and like all good Hollywood movies, the kids have to win.This has been a challenging and exciting job, and I have learned a great deal in my time with all of you. I am truly lucky to have had the chance to lead this incredible team on so many wonderful projects. I’m particularly proud of the amazing and creative work that came out of our global hits like Tangled, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Cars 2, and The Help, as well as The Muppets and War Horse, and John Carter and The Avengers to come.I want to thank you all for your understanding and support. This has been a remarkable journey and I look forward to seeing your continued brilliance everywhere. But now it is time to get back to winter in New York and my amazing kids.All my best, always,MT

EXCLUSIVE: This was the coveted Head Of Worldwide Marketing job for Walt Disney Studios which MT Carney just exited and all of Hollywood was speculating on her replacement. I’ve learned the outside-the-box winner is Ricky Strauss, the 16-year Sony Pictures veteran and most recently Participant Media’s man behind The Help for DreamWorks and Disney. I expect an announcement to be made later today. The long-time motion picture production and marketing exec joined Participant Media in March 2005 as President. In his post, he presides over all of Participant’s feature film production, acquisition and marketing efforts, as well as its television and publishing activities. In 2011 besides The Help, Participant had Steven Soderbergh’s box office hit Contagion for Warner Bros. Prior to joining Participant, Ricky ran his own film and television production company, Ricochet Entertainment, where he executive produced The Sweetest Thing, starring Cameron Diaz, among other projects. Before Ricochet, Ricky served as SVP of Production at Sony, where he developed and supervised film projects for the studio. From 1988 to 1997, he served as an advertising executive at Columbia Pictures, creating award winning ad campaigns for many feature films. Meanwhile, the LA Times engaged in a ridiculous speculation game and failed to include Strauss on a usual suspects list.

UPDATE: Here’s the official Disney announcement:

BURBANK, Calif. – January 13, 2012 – Rich Ross, Chairman of The Walt Disney Studios, announced today that Ricky Strauss has been named President of Marketing for The Walt Disney Studios. Strauss will oversee the Studios’ global marketing strategy encompassing creative, media, digital, promotions, publicity, research and synergy across all distribution channels for motion pictures released under the Walt Disney Pictures (including Walt Disney Animation and Pixar Animation), Marvel Studios, and Touchstone Pictures banners, which includes DreamWorks Studios films released via Touchstone.

“I am happy to welcome Ricky Strauss to The Walt Disney Studios family. With 25 years of industry experience, he brings a deep understanding of all aspects of the film business as well as incredible skill in branding and cutting-edge marketing,” said Ross. “He will undoubtedly raise the Studios’ creative bar as we enter 2012 and look ahead at showcasing a spectacular slate of films to audiences around the world.”

“The future of Disney movies is as exciting as the legacy, and I’m honored to have the opportunity to be a part of that. Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and DreamWorks Studios are among the world’s best and brightest brands,” said Strauss. “My experience at Participant has been incredible and I’m so proud of my colleagues and everything we accomplished. I look forward now to getting to work with the exceptional team at Disney, doing some of the most innovative marketing in the industry.”

A 25-year movie veteran, Strauss has created award-winning marketing campaigns for numerous feature films and has overseen all aspects of film production. He most recently served as President of Participant Media, where he oversaw the company’s marketing, production, and acquisition for a broad range of socially relevant and commercially viable films including this summer’s blockbuster The Help, acclaimed features The Kite Runner, The Visitor, and Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion, as well as documentaries such as Food, Inc. and the Academy Award®-winning An Inconvenient Truth and The Cove. Prior to joining Participant in 2005, Strauss founded Sony-based Ricochet Entertainment, where he executive-produced the Cameron Diaz film The Sweetest Thing. He also spent 16 years at Sony, where he served as a senior marketing executive (Columbia/TriStar Pictures) and later as Senior Vice President of Production.